26 MUST KNOWN POINTS
FEB 1-to-15
1.West Indies for the first time has won the ICC U-19 Cricket World Cup2016
West Indies for the first time has won the ICC U-19 Cricket World Cup by
defeating three time champions India by five wickets played at Mirpur
(Bangladesh). In the final match West Indies team achieved the target of
146 runs set by India in in 49.3 overs. Earlier in the first inning,
Indian team was bowled out for 145 in 45.1 overs.
Man of the match:
Player of the tournament:
Keacy Carty (West Indies)
Mehidy Hasan Miraz (Bangladesh)
Indian side was captained by Ishan Kishan. It was fifth time India was
playing in the Under-19 World Cup final. West Indies was appearing for
the second time in the final match.
2. India’s Ambassador to Tajikistan Biraja Prasad the youngest Indian
Foreign Service (IFS) officer to be appointed as India’s Ambassador to
any country passed away following a massive cardiac arrest.
Scientist for the first time have discovered Gravitational Waves (GW)
that were hypothesised by Albert Einstein in 1916.
These waves were detected by the scientists working at two LIGO (Laser
Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory) facilities in United
States.
Key facts
LIGO scientists have detected these gravitational waves produced by
collision of two black holes located 1.3 billion light years away from
earth.
Significance
This discovery opens new window in studying cosmos and unlock secrets
about the early universe and mysterious objects like black holes and
neutron stars.
26 MUST KNOWN POINTS
3. Confirms a key prediction of Albert Einstein’s General Theory of
Relativity.
As these waves do not interact with matter, gravitational waves coming
to Earth may be carrying undistorted information about its origin.
It may also improve methods for estimating the distances to other
galaxies.
It may also help in mapping the abundance of black holes and frequency
of their mergers.
4.Noted Malayalam poet and lyricist O N V Kurup passed away
He was popularly known as “ONV”, Ottaplakkal Nambiyadikkal Velu Kurup
and had made significant contributions to the Malayalam film music. He
was also was part of the progressive movement in Kerala.
His first poem “Munnottu” (Forward) about his patriotic feelings was
published in 1946. His notable works include Agnishalabhangal (1971),
Aksharam (1974), Uppu (1980), Bhoomikkoru Charamageetham (1984),
Ujjayini (1994) and Swayamvaram (1995).
Awards and Honours:
In 2007, was awarded country’s highest literary honour, the Jnanpith
Award for his overall contributions to the Malayalam literature.
He was also awarded Padma Shri (1998) and Padma Vibhushan (2011).
5.
Banaras Hindu University (BHU) founded by has turned 100 years on
13th February 2016
Banaras Hindu University (BHU) founded by Freedom fighter Pt Madan Mohan
Malviya . During time of its establishment it was first university in
India that was the result of a private individual’s efforts. After its
formation, BHU had played an important role in the freedom movement of
India. . Earlier in September 2014, Union Government had released
special coins of Rs 100 (commemorative) and Rs 10 (released in the
market) to commemorate the 100th year of establishment of BHU. Postal
Department also had issued a special commemorative stamp to mark the
occasion.
26 MUST KNOWN POINTS
6.
Ashok Chawla has been appointed as Chairman of The Energy and
Resources Institute (TERI). He was selected by the Governing Council of
TERI and shall succeed noted scientist B V Sreekantan.
7.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has inaugurated the Make in India
Centre at MMRDA Grounds in Mumbai, Maharashtra.
On this occasion, Finland Prime Minister Juha Petri Sipilä and Sweden
Prime Minister Kjell Löfven were also present along with Maharashtra
Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis.
Make in India Week is the flagship event that seeks to provide greater
momentum to the Make in India initiative and to promote India as a
preferred manufacturing destination globally. In this event, government
delegations from 49 countries and business delegations from 68 countries
are going attend it.
8.
The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has banned
Pakistani umpire Asad Rauf for five years after its disciplinary
committee found him guilty of corrupt practices. He was accused of
accepting expensive gifts from bookies besides placing bets on IPL
matches in the 2013 edition. Earlier Rauf had served as part of the
International Cricket Council’s (ICC’s) elite panel. He was withdrawn
from panel by Pakistan after the allegations against him broke out.
10. 13th February was proclaimed as World Radio Day by UNESCO . On this
day in 1946, United Nations Radio had transmitted (broadcasted) its
first call sign. The first WRD was officially celebrated in 2012.
11.
Malaria Elimination (NFME) 2016-2030
The framework aims to eliminate mosquito borne malaria disease from the
country by 2030. This is for the first time government’s health policy
has framed intervention have deliverables and time-bound targets.
Under the new framework Whole country will be divided into three
categories as per malaria prevalence — low (Category 1), moderate
(Category 2) and endemic (Category 3) States.
26 MUST KNOWN POINTS
Objectives:
(i) Eliminate malaria from all low and moderate endemic states/UTs by
2022
(ii) Reduce incidence of malaria to less than 1 case per 1000 population
in all States/UTs and its elimination by 2024.
(iii) Interrupt indigenous transmission of malaria in all category 3
states by 2027.
(iv) Prevent re-establishment of malaria local transmission in areas
where it has been eliminated and to maintain status of malaria-free in
the country by 2030.
12. Karnataka’s flagship mobile-one governance application has won gold
medal at the fourth World Government Summit in Dubai, UAE in the mgovernance awards category.
Karnataka Mobile One m-governance model
This model is country’s and world’s largest multimode mobile governance
platform launched in December 2014 by President Pranab Mukherjee.
It offers 4,500 services including G2C, B2C and G2B services onto single
integrated platform that can be accessed on smartphones, a web portal or
through SMS and IVRS.
It provides services like bill payments, issue redressal, agriculture
etc from both the government and private sector to citizens.
13. Indian-origin Harinder Sidhu has been appointed as Australian High
Commissioner to India. She replaces outgoing High Commissioner Patrick
Suckling. She is second envoy from Australia with Indian roots after
Peter Varghese who had ancestral roots to southern Indian state of
Kerala.
14. Union Ministry of Tourism has launched 24×7 Toll Free Multi-Lingual
Tourist Info Line for international tourists in 12 international
languages. The 12 languages include 10 International languages besides
26 MUST KNOWN POINTS
English and Hindi, namely, French, Arabic, Italian, German, Korean,
Japanese, Portuguese, Chinese, Russian and Spanish
15. Prime Minister Narendra Modi dedicated Indian Oil Corporation’s
(IOC’s) new state of the art refinery at Paradip in Odisha to the
nation. It is overall IOC’s 11th refinery to be set up and has installed
capacity of 15 million metric tonnes per annum (MMTPA).
16. The Union Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare has decided
to set up the National Organic Farming Research Institute (NOFRI) in
Sikkim.
In January 2016, Sikkim was officially declared as first fully organic
state in India by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The state has achieved
this feat by converting around 75000 hectares of land into certified
organic farms by following the guidelines prescribed by National
Programme for Organic Production.
17. The International Fleet Review (IFR) 2016, an international
military exercise hosted and conducted by Indian Navy was inaugurated in
Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh.
Theme of this edition on IFR is “United through Oceans” and its
objective is to enhance mutual trust and confidence with neighbouring
navies by inviting their ships to participate in the event.
Total 11,000 guests are expected to attend the mega naval exercise
including members of foreign delegations. It is perceived to be the
biggest exercise conducted in India so far. Naval ships from 50
countries and various dignitaries will also participate in the event and
close to 4000 sailors have participated in the fleet review. The 4 day
review (from 4 to 8 February) aims at assuring the country of the Indian
Navy’s preparedness, high morale and discipline. For the first time
Chinese navy called as People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLA-N) is also
participating in the event. In this edition of IFR special emphasis is
given to Make In India on three dimensions — indigenisation, innovation
and ingenuity. Indian Navy’s ships participating in this event includes,
INS Vikramaditya- India’s biggest aircraft carrier, INS Viraat,
26 MUST KNOWN POINTS
destroyers INS Mysore, Kolkata, frigates-Satpura, Shivalik, Teg amongst
others. The last IFR conducted by the Indian Navy in 2001 in Mumbai,
Maharashtra in which navies of 29 countries from across the globe had
participated.
18.
South Asian Games (SAG)
The 12th edition of South Asian Games (SAG) has begun in Guwahati, Assam
event is being jointly hosted by Guwahati and Meghalaya capital,
Shillong. Over 2,500 athletes from 8 SAARC nations viz. India, Pakistan,
Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Afghanistan, Nepal, Bhutan and the Maldives are
participating in it.
Total of 228 events in 23 sports disciplines will be played during the
games, which India is hosting for the third time.
Slogan of games:
‘Play for Peace, Progress and Prosperity’.
Official mascot:
Tikhor, a one-horned rhino
19. Sarangi maestro Pandit Ram Narayan (88) has been chosen for the
prestigious Bharat Ratna Pandit Bhimsen Joshi Classical Music Award for
2015-2016. Pandit Ram Narayan is first internationally successful
sarangi player and has popularised bowed musical instrument as a solo
concert instrument in Hindustani classical music.
20. Former Lok Sabha Speaker Balram Jakhar passed away in New Delhi. He
was 92. He was elected as the Lok Sabha Speaker for two consecutive
terms from 1980 to 1989. As Speaker of Lok Sabha he was instrumental for
computerization and automation of Parliamentary works
21. Major General Jai Shanker Menon of India has been appointed as the
Head of Mission and Force Commander of the United Nations Disengagement
Observer Force (UNDOF)
22. The Union Government has issued detailed guidelines to tackle the
outbreak of Zika Virus Disease in the wake of reported cases in
26 MUST KNOWN POINTS
Americas. These guidelines were issued by Union Health Ministry and
comes after World Health Organisation (WHO) had declared this outbreak
as Public Health Emergency of International Concern.
23. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) in its sixth bi-monthly monetary
policy review for year 2016 has maintained status quo in key policy
interest rate. The key policy interest rates were kept unchanged on the
basis of an assessment of the current and evolving macroeconomic
situation in the country. RBI has kept its stance on the credit policy
accommodative.
Repo rate under the liquidity adjustment facility (LAF): unchanged at
6.75 per cent.
Reverse repo rate under the LAF: unchanged at 5.75 per cent.
Marginal standing facility (MSF) rate and the Bank Rate has unchanged at
7.75 per cent. Cash Reserve Ratio (CRR) of scheduled banks: Unchanged at
4.0 per cent of net demand and time liability (NDTL).
RBI projections In Financial Year (FY) 2016 growth will be at 7.4% with
downward bias and FY17 growth at 7.6 % despite headwinds. Inflation will
be around 5% for FY 16-17 .
24. Former IAS officer D J Pandian has been appointed vice-president
and chief investment officer (CIO) of Beijing-based Asian Infrastructure
Investment Bank (AIIB)
25.
Zika virus
The World Health Organisation (WHO) has declared an international public
health emergency over the explosive spread of the mosquito-borne Zika
virus.
This is the fourth time the WHO has declared an international public
health emergency. Earlier, the UN Health agency had declared two
emergencies in 2014 for the deadly Ebola outbreak in West Africa and a
resurgence of polio in Syria and other countries. In 2009, the first
emergency was declared after the H1N1 swine flu pandemic.
Zika virus
26 MUST KNOWN POINTS
Zika virus is a mosquito-borne virus transmitted by Aedes aegypti
mosquitoes.
It is close cousin of other other vector-borne diseases like Dengue,
Chikungunya and Yellow Fever transmitted by Aedes mosquitoes .
The virus was first identified in 1947 in Uganda and its name has been
derived from Zika Forest.
Transmission:
Zika virus is not contagious but it is mainly transmitted by daytimeactive Aedes aegypti mosquitoes after it bites someone infected with the
virus and transmit it by biting another human.
Most common symptoms:
Headache, muscle and joint pain, mild fever, rash, pinkeye and
inflammation of the underside of the eyelid.
26.
AUSTRALIAN OPEN 2016
Event
2016 Men's
Singles
2016 Women's
Singles
2016 Men's
Doubles
2016 Women's
Doubles
2016 Mixed
Doubles
Champion
Novak Djokovic
Angelique
Kerber
Jamie Murray
Bruno Soares
Martina Hingis
Sania Mirza
Elena Vesnina
Bruno Soares
Runner-up
Andy Murray
Score
6–1, 7–5, 7–
6(7–3)
Serena Williams 6–4, 3–6, 6–4
Daniel Nestor
Radek Štěpánek
Andrea
Hlaváčková
Lucie Hradecká
2–6, 6–4, 7–5
7–6(7–1), 6–3
Coco Vandeweghe 6–4, 4–6, [10–
5]
Horia Tecău